My Vision for Nepal | Bring governmental services to people’s fingertips

Bring governmental services to people’s fingertips

Three ways to realize the vision: 

1)   Mass awareness campaigns for digital literacy.
2)   Stopping the brain-drain of technical experts for the development of information systems.
3)  Better securing information systems.

With the advancements in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), there is a possibility to bring all public services in one window system to citizen’s fingertips.

The government started providing online services to its citizens with the rapid increase in internet penetration and adoption of mobile broadband technologies. However, such online services were not up to the mark before the Covid-19 pandemic. They gradually gained popularity as they became convenient for people to go online while they were confined in their homes during the lockdowns. While the transition from physical to virtual services was not that easy, many incidents of cyber-attacks were also reported.

The government needs to get its acts together to make its online services meet changing demands. Nobody wants to—and should not have to—share personal information online unless they feel secure. So ensuring cyber security to make people feel safe enough to capitalize on this technology-development is a must. We will obviously face new challenges in the coming days and we must brace ourselves for that. It is thus vital that we gain public trust and encourage them to use our services without any fear of data breaches.

Cyber security is something that must be handled at both ends: from the side of the government as well as from the side of the end-users, or the citizens.

Advancement in ICT is the enabler for developing systems across multiple dimensions. The ICT human resources currently serving the Government of Nepal are inadequate to meet the growing demands in several sectors. With the country’s adoption of the three-tier federal, provincial, and local government systems, more and more ICT personnel are required. We cannot overlook the fact that ICT-friendly personnel are needed even at the municipal ward level.

Ironically, ICT ministry is mostly found to be led by gazetted special first class officers from Administration Service. Out of 65 gazetted special first-class officers in civil service, only 13 are found to be representing the technical field, mostly from civil engineering service. That means ICT experts in the civil service are envisioned to become ICT leaders. Moreover, computer science or computer engineering or information technology streams are yet to be properly recognized in government services. They still fall under the ‘miscellaneous’ category even as other non-governmental sectors are making rapid advancements with greater use of manpower in these areas. 

Also read: Juju Kaji Maharjan: Secure every kid’s access to basic needs 

Every year, thousands of fresh graduates in computer engineering, computer science and information technology seek new employment and higher education opportunities. The limited opportunities in Nepal entices them abroad, where they head in search of better education and career opportunities. Even though they have been doing good work abroad, the Government of Nepal has not been able to tap these young talents. If they could be retained in the country, we could speed up our progress and achieve my vision.

Against this backdrop, I dream of a Nepal that can guarantee free health services, free education, and enough jobs, as promised by the new constitution. ICT can play a vital role in achieving these constitutional statements. For this, ICT education needs to be provided at the foundation level without gender bias. Gender equality needs to be prioritized in each sector, too, as women constitute over half of the national population. As the ICT sector has to coordinate with every other sector, greater women’s participation here means their greater representation in other areas as well.

The ICT industry is no longer isolated; it is cross-cutting. Thus when the government makes progress on ICT, all other sectors will reap the rewards, saving a lot of time and money in the process. ICT personnel are, therefore, key to bridging diverse sectors via coordinated information systems.

Many governmental offices already provide online services. However, many service seekers are still unaware of the available services and continue to queue up outside physical offices. Perhaps we are in a state of transition. One way of overcoming people’s reluctance to go digital would again be through a broad awareness campaign. Moreover, citizens should also try to be self-literate. Our population can be divided into three categories: illiterate, digitally literate, and experts. We have the challenge of elevating all our people into at least digitally literate categories. For this, we have to start mass awareness campaigns and promote general ICT skills for everyone. 

Quick Questions:

1. What is the best thing about your job?

The faster pace of developments and updates in the telecom industry has resulted in telecom regulation with its own growing set of challenges day by day. So, unlike other bureaucratic jobs, mine is not monotonous. I am constantly updating myself and enjoy working with the challenges ahead.

2. Are women in the ICT disadvantaged?

Whoever comes into this field has to put equal effort regardless of any gender representation. However, when women are at the peak of their career development, mostly married women often struggle to juggle between work and family life balance due to stereotypical mindset. This has led women to be low represented in the ICT industry.

3. A quote you live by.

“Opportunities never knock your door twice.”